I wasn’t any kind of fan of the 2013 release, but I am of this 2014. It’s biodynamically grown, it sees 25% whole bunches, it’s cold soaked and then fermented wild in open vats before seeing all French oak, 40% new. It’s not only a vineyard selection but a barrel selection; the best barrels of the most distinctive vineyard, kind of thing. 5784 bottles made.
If you’re going to make a powerful statement then give it the scaffolding to endure. This is a McLaren Vale shiraz to reckon with. It’s inky with blackberried fruit flavour, it’s infused with saltbush, it’s sheeted with cedary oak and for all its luxury polish it roars Get Out Of My Way, I’m On The Way To The Future. This is a ship with long anchors of tannin. Go on a fitness kick, eat healthy, do your best to be around in 20 years. This is a shiraz for the ages.

An amazingly intense wine with pure blackberry aromas. Although the wine is highly concentrated, the acidity gives definition, and the fine tannins frame the palate perfectly. Oak introduces a subtle amount of savoury nuttiness. It is a wine of power and grace that will age long into the future.

50% fills a 675l ceramic egg, foot-trodden and fermented on skins, remaining there for 120 days before pressing; the other 50% is pressed into a second ceramic egg and fermented off skins. The fresh varietal fruit is held in a distinct chalky/pithy embrace, the length and balance faultless. The fascinating question is how long it will live. 68 dozen made

Using two ceramic egg vessels, half the fruit is fermented on skins for 160 days in one, the other half with juice only. The final outcome a 60/40% blend respectively. What a wine. Complex yet refined, notes of preserved ginger, herbal tea, honey comb and clotted cream with neat phenolics and gossamer-like acidity.

Open-fermented, hand-plunged, 25% whole bunches, cold soak, wild yeast, on lees, 15 months in French oak (15% new), barrel selection. Bright colour introduces a wine that skips along a sunlit path, the black cherry fruit with flashes of chocolate, oak and tannins coming and going, here one moment, gone the next, then back again. 297 dozen made.

Destemmed and mechanically berry-sorted, 50% crushed, tipped into two 675l ceramic eggs. Fermentation occurs in the eggs; remains on skins for 120 days post-fermentation, the pressings not used. The colour is clear and bright; a perfumed bouquet, then a palate brimming with bright red fruits supported by a spider web of ultra-fine tannins. It is the perfume that is so extraordinary. 94 dozen made.

A name change: goodbye Small Pot Ceramic Egg, hello Ovitelli, sounds classier. Still made in (two) ceramic egg vessels, destemmed fruit, 50% crushed and on skins for 140 days. The heady aromatics greet and promise more good things to come. superfine acidity, the pure line of fruit tannin, the energy and joy in this wine, quite profound.

Medium ruby, the 2020 Pinot Noir Machado is scented of pomegranate and blueberry with tones of aniseed, prosciutto, bergamot and cracked pepper. The medium-bodied palate is grainy and fresh with concentrated fruits and lots of layers across the finish. It feels a bit wound and fruit-forward at this early stage and will benefit from a few more years in bottle.

The 2020 Pinot Noir Hapgood is especially elegant this vintage. Pale ruby-purple, it features red cherries, blood orange, lavender, tea leaves and prosciutto on the nose. Light-bodied, fresh and energetic, the palate offers loads of layers and powdery tannins, finishing long and detailed. It may have more to give with another 2-3 years in bottle.

The 2020 Chardonnay Machado opens slowly to pretty notes of matchstick and lime leaves and needs a bit of aeration to give up nuances of lemongrass, saline, apricot and chalk. The palate is bursting with concentrated, ripe citrus fruits and offers mouthwatering acidity that calls you back to the glass again and again. It has a streak of herbal exoticism that adds to its appeal, a bit of anchoring textural grip and a long, evolving finish.

White grapefruit, pears, flint, slate and toasted almonds on the nose. So flavorful and vibrant, with sharp acidity and a creamy, compact palate. Medium to full body. Long, flinty and intense. Drink now or hold.

Attractive aromas of cherries and strawberries with dried herbs, rose petals and dried blood orange. Medium-bodied with polished texture and ultra fine tannins. It’s so lively and electrified with a pure and ripe fruit character that offers an array of cocoa-dusted strawberries and savory undertones. It’s spicy and long. Delicious. Drink or hold.

Blended with 21% Merlot, this wine shows lots of varietal character, nuanced in red fruit, toasted oak and compelling baking spice. Elegant throughout, it conveys power within the context of sophisticated complexity and mannered tannins. Plenty of structure allows the wine to age further. Enjoy best from 2029–2039.

Sourced from a propitiously sited single plot, where sand meets ironstone. Sorted abstemiously following hand picking. Wild fermented on skins for 16 days. Élévage in a combination of new and older French puncheons, in addition to a 25L foudre following a barrel cull and blending. Density and pliancy, the calling cards. All offset by the juiciest red cherry-skinned tannins flecked with violet, blueberry, rose petal and spice, directing the fray. Tactile barely describes this, so moreish and conducive to the next glass, as it draws the saliva in preparation.

Very deep, dark, dense red/purple/black hue. It smells of coconut, vanilla, toasty, charred oak, and graphite. The wine is very full-bodied, concentrated and dense but again, it's so young and firm, dense and unready it's difficult to evaluate. When you work the wine in the glass, dark chocolate and mocha as well as espresso coffee emerge, but the wine is still closed and tannic. Who can tell where it comes from or what grape it is? A formidable wine. Cellar it! There is amazing concentration and phenomenal tannin structure here. A truly decadent wine.

This has a complex and expressive nose of iodine, dried thyme, blackberry fruit, tar, cloves and crushed stones. Beautifully framed, with sleek and firm tannins providing an elegant support to the dark fruit and minerals. Slowly unwinds. From biodynamically grown grapes. Better from 2024. Screw cap.

A linear and tight grenache with long and very intense fruit and tannins. Blackberry, dark cocoa powder and dusty. Chewy and very fine tannined. Excellent length and power. Needs three or four years to come around. From biodynamically grown grapes. Best after 2024.

More dark plum fruit and purple flowers here with a deep minerality of crushed stones, clay and tea leaves. It’s medium-bodied and well structured with firm, tightly formed tannins. Mineral freshness. Dips in and out of a deep, dark and brooding character. Still tight but round textured and then chewy at the end. Grenache from vines planted in 1946. Fermented and remains on skins for 170 days, with total maturation in ceramic eggs for 11 months. From biodynamically grown grapes. Try after 2023. Screw cap.

Gorgeous nose of hazelnuts, black cherries, blackberries, mocha and bay leaves. Hints of spearmint. Seamlessly integrated, with a concentrated and delicious core of dark fruit, herbs and seductive spice. Muscular, fleshy tannins. Showing beautiful cabernet character with a long life ahead. 57% cabernet sauvignon and 43% shiraz. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

Stunning, this is oozing with spices, perfume and polish, featuring green cardamom, clove, lavender and nutmeg details that add an aromatic overtone to wild berry, cranberry and strawberry pastry flavors. Drink now through 2034.

Fragrant and expressive, with polished, creamy tannins setting the stage for blueberry, raspberry and cardamom flavors. Delivers details of palo santo, brown sugar, dried violet and sweet mint tea on the long, impressive finish. Drink now through 2034.

Immediately savoury, hints of wild rosemary and bay leaf referencing its fynbos-strewn home on the lofty peaks of the Banhoek. Yellow apples and creamed pear are stitched in by intricate notes of cinnamon spice, orange peel and the leesy complexity of baking bread. The palate is equally layered and savoury, with a core of peachy bright fruit wrapped in a mineral, crystallising acid. Truly distinct. 14%

The beautiful 2019 Mt. Brave Cabernet Sauvignon has 5% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc blended in. Needing an hour in the decanter to be fully aroused, this delivers ripe cassis and huckleberry notes that combine with wet stone and suggestions of sandalwood on the nose. The palate is refined and elegant, with plenty of dense dark fruits and power — yet comes off quite weightless. Refined tannins and bright acidity frame this outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon that is only starting to come into its own.

The absolutely delicious 2019 Mt. Brave Merlot comes from eastern-facing slopes on Mt. Veeder.. It immediately gratifies with chocolate covered kirsch notes alongside black raspberry, graphite and loamy soils. The intense aromatics bring you back to the glass for more enjoyment. The wine showcases velvety tannins that frame a beautiful core of red and dark fruits, with espresso grounds, mocha and lighter dried herbal notes. Finishing very long, this is soft, complex and stunning high-elevation Napa Merlot to consume now and over the next twenty years. Give this at least an hour in the decanter if enjoying now.

Intense and penetrating yet still floral and fresh aromas of lavender and boysenberry are fascinating on the inviting nose of this clonal selection. The palate is ripe with boysenberry jam, candied lilac and açaí flavors, which are show-stopping in nature and deeply delicious.